Firecracker Chicken
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Better-than-takeout firecracker chicken! Juicy crisp-tender chicken tossed in an irresistible sweet and spicy sauce (can also make it mild!).
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Why you’ll love firecracker chicken
- Faster and cheaper than takeout. Making this takeout favorite at home costs a fraction of restaurant prices using fresh, better-quality ingredients, requiring just 15-20 minutes of prep time.
- Bold, explosive flavors. Firecracker chicken has the most amazing combination of sweet and spicy flavors with a hint of tanginess and zing from the buffalo sauce. And it’s baked in the oven for about 45 minutes to let all those amazing flavors soak right into the juicy, tender bites of chicken.
- Ultra-crispy and tender chicken. The chicken pieces are coated in cornstarch and eggs first, creating a crunchy crust that stays crispy even after baking!
- Incredibly versatile recipe. You can easily adapt this recipe to make it mild or more spicy. You can also serve over a bed of vegetables, steamed rice, fried rice, or chow mein. No matter how it’s served, this will be a guaranteed family-favorite!
What is firecracker chicken?
Firecracker chicken is a popular Chinese-American takeout dish featuring crispy bite-sized chicken pieces coated in a sticky glaze that is sweet, spicy, and tangy. The dish is typically finished with sliced green onions and served over rice, noodles, or chow mein.
Key Ingredients
- Chicken: boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
- Coating: cornstarch and beaten eggs
- Sauce: brown sugar, buffalo sauce (ex. Frank’s RedHot), apple cider vinegar, salt, and crushed red pepper flakes
- Garnish: green onions
How to make firecracker chicken
- Coat the chicken. Dice the chicken breasts or thighs into uniform 1-inch pieces and season with salt and pepper. Coat the chicken pieces with cornstarch until lightly coated, then dip each piece into the beaten eggs.
- Cook the chicken. Working in batches, cook the chicken in vegetable oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat until golden and crispy. Set aside with a slotted spoon to a paper towel-lined plate.
- Prep the sauce. Mix together the brown sugar, buffalo sauce, apple cider vinegar, salt, red pepper flakes, and water.
- Bake and stir. Place the chicken in a greased 9 x 13 baking dish, stirring in the sauce until each piece is well coated. Bake at 325°F for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes, until the chicken is completely cooked through (internal temperature should reach 165°F).
- Serve. Sprinkle with green onions and serve warm over rice or noodles.
More asian takeout recipes to make at home
Tools For This Recipe
Firecracker Chicken: Frequently Asked Questions
The firecracker sauce is made from a blend of brown sugar for sweetness, buffalo hot sauce (such as Frank’s RedHot), apple cider vinegar for acidity, salt, and crushed red pepper flakes.
Yes! Boneless, skinless chicken breasts will be leaner whereas chicken thighs will be much more forgiving and stay extra juicy.
This dish consists of a vibrant mix of sweet, spicy, and tangy flavors. It is similar to sweet and sour chicken with noticeably more of a spicy kick of heat.
Firecracker chicken does have a kick of heat to the dish but you can control the spice level by reducing the amount of hot sauce or omitting the red pepper flakes for milder flavors.
Pair with starches and vegetables that can soak up the sweet, spicy, and tangy glaze such as white rice, chow mein, or steamed broccoli and green beans.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days, gently reheating on the stovetop with a splash of water or in the oven at 350°F until heated through.
Firecracker Chicken
Video
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into 1-inch chunks
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- ½ cup cornstarch
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
For the firecracker sauce
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup buffalo sauce, or more, to taste
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or more, to taste
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly oil a 9 x 13 baking dish or coat with nonstick spray.
- In a large bowl, season chicken with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in cornstarch and gently toss to combine. Working one at a time, dip the chicken into the eggs.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Working in batches, add chicken and cook until golden brown, about 1-2 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate; discard excess oil.
- Add chicken to prepared baking dish. Stir in the firecracker sauce until well combined. Place into oven and bake until the sauce has thickened, about 45 minutes, turning over every 15 minutes to evenly coat the chicken.
- Serve immediately, garnished with green onions, if desired.
For the firecracker sauce
- In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, buffalo sauce, vinegar, salt, red pepper flakes and 1 tablespoon water.
Equipment
Notes
- Adjust the heat level. The signature firecracker sauce balances heat (hot sauce and red pepper flakes) with sweetness (brown sugar). Adjust the spice level by reducing or increasing the amount of hot sauce and red pepper flakes as needed.
- Stir every 15 minutes. The periodic stirring during baking will serve as a natural basting-step, evenly coating every piece of chicken with the sticky glaze.
- Pair with rice or noodles. Serve over steamed white rice, brown rice, or noodles (such as chow mein) to soak up the extra sauce.
- Reheat in the oven or stovetop. Gently reheat the leftover chicken on the stovetop with a splash of water or in the oven at 350°F until warmed through (to restore some of its crispness).
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Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Imperial Sugar. All opinions expressed are my own.
Just tried the recipe, it was quick, easy and scrumptious! The best thing about firecracker chicken is that it was enjoyed by the whole family. Thanks for sharing this simple recipe.
I am doing two pounds do I need to double the ingredients
Yes – as the recipe calls for one pound, it would be best to double the recipe.
This was the first recipe of yours I’ve made and this turned out awesome! Looked just like the picture and taste just like take out but better. The texture of the chicken is amazing, hard to believe it isn’t deep fried! My boyfriend devoured it. He likes his food pretty spicy so in addition to the franks buffalo sauce I added a generous squirt of siriracha it was perfect. Thanks for the great recipe!
Okay, this was amazing. I made this tonight and my husband and I loved it. I got a little worried after the cornstarch,egg, then oil step because my chicken looked pretty “eggy”, but it turned out perfect.
I tried the recipe and made my own buffalo sauce (franks redhot pepper sauce and butter). Between the 15 minute intervals, the sauce separated. What would cause this?
Miles, it may be best just to use Franks Red Hot as the addition of butter may have caused the sauce to separate.
This recipe was amazing! I will admit I was skeptical of using the buffalo sauce at first but it worked out great. I used Budweiser hot n spicy wing sauce as the buffalo sauce btw.
My boyfriend had a long day at work and called saying he wanted a “good” dinner and he was hungry.
Let me start off by saying I had 0 plans for dinner tonight, but i guess the fuzziness of Xmas made me want to be a nice gf today. I ran across the street bought some boneless chicken and this recipe was such smoooooth sailing I was scared it wAs too smooth it would sacrifice the turnout. Needless to say, he LOVED it lol.
I ended up using flour rather than cornstarch because I had none, and it came out great. I did sift the flour thoroughly and make sure the chicken pieces were completely coated evenly.
Thank you for this recipe it will be forever recycled in my household!
I am making this for sure! Looks amazing. It looks a little on the dryer side though, and I like having my meat with little sauce but my boyfriend likes to drown his rice in sauce, almost as if it is soup. What can I do to make this a bit more saucy?
You can try doubling the sauce if you’d like!
This has become one of my family’s favorite dishes. It is SO VERY GOOD!! Thank you for such a wonderful recipe!! 🙂
I just cooked this recipe and it was amazing ! I was scared it might be too spicy for me -since I was making this specifically for my father- but it turned out I liked it better than him. Might try with more buffalo sauce next time. Thanks !
Wow! This was such a yummy meal. I broiled the meat instead of baking it for 45 mins because the prep time took longer than I anticipated. It turned out great!
I made this last week. I forgot the buffalo sauce when I went shopping, so I used sriracha chili sauce instead. It was AMAZING! Making again tonight.
Made this the other night — crazy, crazy good. We are gluten-free and loved this dish, as well as many others you have posted. Thanks for all the great recipes –love your site!
Hi ! This sounds great I was just wondering, as a vegetarian. if the cornstarch-egg method would work on vegetables ? thanks!
I actually haven’t tried it myself but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work!
This looks fabulous, and completely adaptable to my lo-sodium diet. Question is… do you think this could be made ahead of time and frozen? Maybe coat and fry, and then freeze in the sauce so all you have to do is thaw and bake?
Mandy, unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself. I recommend using your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
I will let you know! 🙂 Thanks for the quick response!
I’ve made this twice in the past week!! Family loves it. I added a little extra apple cider vinegar though the 2nd time to make a little more sauce.
Just made it, came upon by luck. My lucky day for sure. It was delicious, easy, and delicious again. Family loved it too. Thank you.
I made this tonight, I loved it! The sauce has perfect amount of heat. I used two chicken breasts and I doubled the amount of sauce. It is a bit time-consuming dipping the pieces and then frying them a few at a time, but it is worth it! I love your site, the design is beautiful, I will be trying more of your recipes for sure!
This is the most amazing and delicious chicken dish i make these days. It’s a staple in my house, and I have to triple the recipe so there are leftovers. The only thing I do different is I cook with boneless chicken thighs because they are the best and most flavorful (says Gordon Ramsey…and I agree with him totally). Thanks for this!!!! Love love LOVE it
I made this for dinner and my youngest son ate the whole pan practically by himself! This was after watching me make the sauce and saying he didn’t think he would be eating any. Chinese isn’t his favorite food. Well he loved this and so did everyone else. Thank you! Julie